Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday he hoped that the authorities in the Ukrainian capital have “enough brains” to prevent a further escalation of the conflict in the east of the country.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday he hoped that the authorities in the Ukrainian capital have “enough brains” to prevent a further escalation of the conflict in the east of the country.

“Ukraine is on the brink of civil war and it is scary,” he said after a meeting with his counterparts from Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The only way to normalize the situation is to create conditions for economic development and dialogue so that the interests of all ethnic groups are taken into account and ethnic Russians can use their language, he said.